• Analysis
Gadi Eisenkot Coalition Overture: Netanyahu Allies Courted as Mandate Clock Ticks
Gadi Eisenkot, Israel's former military chief, began the task of forming a government on Sunday by appealing to Benjamin Netanyahu's allies, including his Likud party and Bezalel Smotrich's far-right faction. Eisenkot, 66, leader of the Yashar party, has 28 days under President Isaac Herzog's mandate to reach a governing majority.
The appeal to Likud and Smotrich's party
Eisenkot's first move in the israel government formation process was aimed across the aisle. The former military chief appealed to Netanyahu's Likud party as well as to the far-right party of finance minister Bezalel Smotrich - but on one condition: any partnership would come only with Eisenkot, not Netanyahu, at the head of the government.
The outreach came a day after Netanyahu called for a "national unity" government with Eisenkot on Saturday night. Whether power would actually be shared in such an arrangement remains unclear, and coalitions of this kind have a reputation for fragility.
In a message aimed at potential partners on all sides, Eisenkot said: "My door is open and my hand is extended, wholeheartedly and willingly, to anyone who understands the gravity of this moment".
Three paths, each with a cost
Beyond the Likud overture, Eisenkot's Yashar party faces three distinct routes to a majority, each carrying a political price:
- •A power-sharing agreement with Netanyahu himself, which would depend on unresolved questions about who holds the premiership.
- •Support from Arab-led parties, which Eisenkot has made conditional on recognising Israel as a Jewish state and declaring Hamas a terrorist organisation.
- •An agreement with the ultra-Orthodox parties - a route complicated by his own campaign, which put equal military service at its centre and sought an end to the longstanding draft exemptions enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
The Arab parties route carries a further obstacle inside his own camp: his partner Yisrael Beiteinu has already said it will not join a coalition with Arab-led parties.
Why the arithmetic is tight
The numbers explain the difficulty. In the October elections, Eisenkot's opposition bloc won 48 of the Knesset's 120 seats, while Netanyahu's camp secured 53 - leaving neither with the 61 needed for a majority.
That is where the Arab-majority lists enter the picture. During consultations with Herzog, Eisenkot received the endorsements of both Arab-majority lists, who made unprecedented gains and could now play kingmakers in the knesset 61 votes count.
The clock and the fallback
The isaac herzog mandate gives Eisenkot 28 days to assemble a government of 61 votes. If he falls short within that period, Herzog can provide a 14-day extension before he has to offer the mandate to someone else.
The stakes for Eisenkot personally are high: if he succeeds, he would take over as prime minister from Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving premier.
If neither side succeeds in building a coalition, Israel heads to fresh elections - the fallback that forced the country through five elections between 2019 and 2022 amid repeated deadlocks.
For now, the overture to Likud and Smotrich's faction stands as the opening test of the 28-day clock: whether Netanyahu's allies will accept a government they would sit in but not lead.
